Emil August Laabs started the first cheese factory in
Curtiss. Part of it was destroyed by a cyclone a few years later. In the winter
of 1905 Emil and his brother Frederich hauled lumber from Colby and started
Laabs Cheese Company at the North end of Curtiss.A few years later they sold it,
Emil had other plants of his own and worked as a cheese dealer and buttermaker
as well. There are so many other cheese makers and factories in the Laabs family
that its too much to mention. Jerry do you still live in Memphis? I suppose
you've retired from the Clark Equipment Co. by now. I'll try and give you more
info if you want it. Talk to you later. Ruth Ann